


Syzygy

by Blurple_bird_human



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Fluff, Ficlet, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Gen, Kaldur-centric, Seriously I'm mad that they had ONE SCENE together in 3 seasons, canon is a joke, let them be a wholesome family for 0.5 seconds, mixed with analysis, then a cute siblings moment, this is basically just kaldur going through a Brain Spiral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29832393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blurple_bird_human/pseuds/Blurple_bird_human
Summary: Syzygy. Noun. A pair of connected or corresponding things. A conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon and sun.Kaldur absolutely adores his family, and they all fit together perfectly.
Relationships: Calvin Durham & Kaldur'ahm, Dolphin & Kaldur'ahm (DCU), Kaldur'ahm & Sha'lain'a (DCU)
Kudos: 4





	Syzygy

Dolphin was small. But not small in the way Kaldur had ever been. Small as in young, as in alive and functioning and needing people to tell her that she wasn't doing anything wrong. He'd realized it the first time he'd climbed on him for a hug when he was in the middle of working, and when she fell asleep on him during her first movie night, it only confirmed what he'd been suspecting. 

But then again, she was a complete and utter nerd. And he meant that in the most endearing way humanly possible.

She noticed everything. Every little thing. So much that he'd wondered if she had some kind of paranormal gift at first, even Garth had implied it when he'd brought it up. She'd remembered everything he'd ever said, too, able to recite entire novelettes with her eyes closed. 

She was more patient than he'd been at her age. She had dealt with _months_ of harassment from some shithead classmates of hers before anyone had ever found out. When confronted about it, she'd just laughed and said something he might never forget: "I don't vanish out of existence because they don't like me. It's really their problem, not mine." 

She was this family's baby, no question about that.

And right now, just like every biweekly movie night, she'd fallen asleep on Calvin's lap, and he'd eventually caved and started running his hands through her hair. In the dim light of the magic-powered screen, Kaldur could still see the thin, pink scars between Calvin's fingers, leftover from the day his body had changed forever. The skin was raised, creating a ridge like the Mariana Trough.

Calvin was more like Dolphin than Kaldur, even though he'd known Kaldur for much longer. He was patient and easygoing. Kaldur could count on one hand the amount of times he'd heard Calvin yell about anything, let alone actually have a _reaction._

Calvin, as Kaldur had noticed over the years, always had this look on his face like he was watching something. He was quiet, never putting in his own two cents, he'd just mentally pick apart everything he heard and saw, understanding it with all its nuance. Kaldur used to wonder what he was like after coming to Atlantis, in the years Kaldur was too young to remember, in a whole new world with new colors and sounds and sights. He must've looked like a wide-eyed child.

Sha'Lain'a would probably remember that time. Especially being his opposite, quick to boredom and always trying to do _something._ She could be...well, she wasn't exactly _easygoing,_ for better or worse. 

She was sprawled out on the couch, blonde hair spilling _everywhere._ Kaldur wondered how Calvin slept in the same bed as her, with all that hair flying around like it had a mind of its own. 

Kaldur looked down at the webs between his own fingers. He'd hated them growing up. The first time...the first time had been when he'd overhead another boy his age talk about holding hands with a girl for the first time, talked about how it had _just fit right._ Kaldur, being eleven and oblivious, had looked down at his own hands in anticipation, but when it had been his turn and his fingers never fit right with the middle-school-crush-that-was-more-of-a-dare-than-a-crush, it had been...uncomfortable, not the way the other boy had described it. It was awkward. Clunky. Disappointing, actually. 

Everyone in his family had had webbed hands by that point. It had never been anything out of the ordinary. 

Until it was.

It was just like his first few weeks on the surface with Orin. 

No one dared to insult Orin, even on the surface, and it wasn't because of his title as King. No, there it was because he was _Aquaman,_ he'd saved enough lives to earn respect. Kaldur had been new at the time, new to being Aqualad and not quite used to _walking,_ let alone combat on his feet. 

Before his time on the surface, Kaldur had never thought he'd had an accent. But, with every interaction, even in civvies, he'd been asked where he was born and where he'd grown up and what his first language was. He'd made something up every time--Americans wouldn't know any better, nine times out of ten, and his so-called accent was subtle. He'd never been contradicted.

It had taken him a while to make sense of the surface. About a month to get into a rhythm of things, but she'd still been confused anyway, and six more to actually comprehend the words being spoken. He'd spent most of his life like this, lost and wandering around. 

His first good friend had been Garth, an elementary school friendship that was _definitely_ his first crush, not that he'd known it at the time. But Garth was...well, Garth was Garth, with his own story about violet eyes, a fear of fish, and grades so high he'd had to under-perform on purpose just to stay in his desired school before being transferred to the Conservatory. And, as much as it'd surprised his surface friends, Kaldur had never cared _much_ about school. He'd passed just fine, but he'd nearly failed his history classes at least a few times each year, he'd always been better in art. His plan had been to become a healer. Funny, how that went out the window.

Becoming Aquaman meant most of his plans had gone out the window. Queen Mera's offer to make him the art teacher at the Conservatory of Sorcery, his plans to become a healer, his promise to his mother to be home more often. 

"Kaldur?"

He jolted out of his thoughts at his sister's voice. She looked up at him, eyelids drooping because Atlantean movies were _long_ and she had the attention span of a stick-fish.

"What is it, guppy?" He said, putting one hand under her face and squeezing her cheeks together so she looked like one of those unfortunate, overweight goldfish in the surface world's pet stores. She swatted his hand away, rolling her eyes at the nickname. 

"Movie's over," She lulled.

Without warning, Kaldur tossed her over his shoulder.

She was out cold by the time he put her down in her bed.


End file.
